Get your business a bigger piece of the action — and make the most of your efforts — with these little-known features, tricks, and straight-up Instagram hacks.

A special thanks to Kendall Walters. Kendall is Hootsuite’s blog coordinator (and human style guide). She writes short newsy pieces, long-form articles, and everything in between — including the monthly news roundup. She also copy-edits, publishes posts, and shares responsibility for planning the blog’s editorial calendar. She hacked this article and Somebody cannot thank her enough …

General Instagram Hacks

1. SEE ALL THE POSTS YOU’VE LIKED

If you’re interested in finding some inspiration for your brand, why not look to your own likes? It’s actually possible to see the 300 posts you’ve most recently liked on the platform. This can be a useful exercise to see what captures your attention.

How to do it:

Go to your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to go to Options

Tap Posts You’ve Liked

Note: This feature is only available on mobile if you’re working in-app. If you’d like to see an updated list of your recently liked posts on desktop, add Instagram to your Hootsuite dashboard and set up a Like stream.

2. CLEAR YOUR SEARCH HISTORY

You’ve probably noticed as you use the platform that Instagram saves your search queries and displays recent terms the next time you perform a search. If you want to start with a blank slate, give this hack a try.

How:

Tap the person icon to go to your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to go to Options

Scroll to the bottom, then tap Clear Search History

Pro Tip: You can also hide individual accounts, hashtags, or places in order to permanently remove them from your search history and keep them from reappearing in subsequent searches. To do so, simply tap the magnifying glass icon to visit the search page, tap the search bar at the top of the screen, tap and hold the search you’d like to hide from your history (below Top or Recent), then tap Hide.

3. REARRANGE FILTER ORDER

Whichever filter is your favorite, make it easy to find by changing the order in which the filters appear on your edit screen. You can even hide those ones you never use. (I’m looking at you Kelvin.)

How:

When posting a photo or video, go to Filter

Scroll to the end of your filters and tap Manage

Press and hold the three line icon next to each filter on the left-hand side of the screen to rearrange the order of your filters

Check or uncheck the circles next to each filter on the right-hand side of the screen to hide or unhide filters

Click Done to save your settings

4. GET NOTIFICATIONS WHEN YOUR FAVORITE ACCOUNTS POSTS NEW CONTENT

Want to make sure you don’t miss a single post from your favorite account? Turn on push notifications.

How:

Visit the profile page of the account you’d like to get notifications for

Tap the three dots icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen

Select Turn on Post Notifications

Note: If you’ve changed your mind, the option to turn off notifications lives in the same spot

5. SEE ACTIVITY FOR THE ACCOUNTS YOU FOLLOW

Want to know what the people you follow are doing on Instagram? To get a clear idea of what sorts of posts drive engagement, simply view the activity—including likes and comments—for the accounts you follow.

How:

Tap on the heart icon in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen to visit the activity tab

The tab will default to You, simply select Following at the top of the screen

6. ADD & MANAGE MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS

Do you have more than one account on Instagram, perhaps one for your business and one for yourself? Are you sick of constantly logging in and out to post, engage, and browse content on different accounts?

Luckily there are not one but two solutions to this oh-so-common problem.

How:

Tap on the person icon at the bottom of the screen to visit your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to go to Options

Scroll to the bottom and select Add Account

Enter the username and password for the second account you’d like to manage

Once you’ve added a second (or third or fourth) account, the profile icon in the navigation bar will change from the silhouette of a person to your profile image

To switch between accounts, simply long press your profile image in the navigation bar until a menu of your accounts appears

Select your desired account, then snap, scroll, and like away

7. PIN YOUR POST TO PINTEREST

Like Instagram, Pinterest is an incredibly visual — and very powerful — social platform, so repurposing your posts for the network makes sense.

Unfortunately, Pinterest isn’t listed as one of the network choices when sharing a post from Instagram. And trying to Pin from the post itself doesn’t work. But fear not: with these workarounds, you can Pin your posts from within the Instagram app or on desktop.

How to do it on mobile:

Go to the post you’d like to Pin

Tap the three dots icon located above your post to the right

Select Copy Share URL to copy the post link to your clipboard

Open the Pinterest app on your mobile device

Tap on the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the plus sign icon at the top right of the screen to add a new Pin

Note: you can change this setting even after a post has been published by going to the post, tapping the three dot icon above it, and selecting Turn On Commenting. You can also turn off comments on a previously published post by following these same steps.

10. SAVE POSTS WHERE ONLY YOU CAN SEE THEM

Have you ever been scrolling through your feed and spotted something that you really, really wanted to save for later? Now you can.

Instagram has a little-known feature that lets you save posts to an area of your profile only you can see. It’s the perfect place to squirrel away inspiration or even save competitor posts you’d like to revisit.

How:

Go to a post you’d like to save

Tap the bookmark icon underneath the post on the right-hand side of the screen

To see your saved posts, visit your profile and tap the matching bookmark icon (next to the Photos of You icon) to go the Saved tab

Ever wanted to see something in an Instagram just a liiiiiittle closer? Now you can.

How:

Go to the post you’d like to zoom in on

Pinch using two fingers

Enjoy the details

Instagram Hacks for Profile and Bios

12. HIDE PHOTOS YOU’VE BEEN TAGGED IN

Has your brand ever been tagged in an image that you’d rather not be associated with? There’s a way to remove it from the Photos of You section of your profile.

How:

Tap the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the person in a box icon beneath your bio to go to the Photos of You tab

Tap the three dots icon in the upper right-hand corner to reveal options

Tap Hide Photos

Select the photos you’d like removed from your profile then tap Hide Photos

Pro Tip: You can also choose whether or not you’d like tagged photos to appear on your profile. To do it, go to the Photos of You page, tap the three dots icon, select Tagging Options, then choose either Add Automatically or Add Manually.

13. ADD LINE BREAKS IN YOUR BIO

If you’d like to break up the block of text that is your bio, this hack is for you. Line breaks are a great way to include info in a visually appealing way.

Open up a notes app and write out your bio as you’d like it to appear, line breaks included

Select all the text and choose Copy

Open the Instagram app

Tap the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the Edit Profile button

Paste the text from your notes app into the bio field

Tap Done to save your changes

How to do it on desktop:

Visit your Instagram profile on the web

Select Edit Profile

Space your bio as you’d like it to appear

Click Submit to save your changes

Note: Whether edited via mobile or on desktop, profiles viewed on desktop will appear without line breaks.

14. PUT A LINK IN YOUR BIO TO DRIVE TRAFFIC

Outside of ads, there’s only one place on Instagram where you can share a clickable link: your bio. Make the most of this space by using it to highlight current promotions, content, and more.

Take it to the next level by using shortened URLs containing UTM parameters in order to track how much traffic is generated by your Instagram profile.

How:

Tap the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the Edit Profile button

Enter in the link you’d like to share.

Tap Done to save your changes

15. SWITCH TO A BUSINESS PROFILE TO RUN ADS & GET ANALYTICS

Instagram launched business profiles in 2016 and they offer a lot of perks — including a profile CTA, access to insights, and the ability to run ads — so now’s the time to make the switch.

How:

Tap the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to go to Options

Select Switch to Business Profile

Tap Continue at the bottom of the screen

Instagram will ask you to connect your Facebook account — you must connect a Facebook account to set up a business account on Instagram

Once you’ve chosen the Facebook Page you want to connect, fill in the information requested by Instagram — you must provide a phone number, email, or physical address for your business

Tap Done to save your profile and settings

Instagram Hacks for Photo and Video Sharing

16. EDIT A PHOTO USING INSTAGRAM WITHOUT SHARING IT

Instagram now allows you to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and filter intensity …

But what if you want to use these expertly edited and filtered photos outside of Instagram — without publishing it on the app? There’s a hack for that.

How:

Open Instagram and tap the person icon to visit your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to go to Options

Scroll down and toggle on Save Original Photos

Turn on airplane mode on your device

Open the photo you’d like to edit in Instagram

Begin editing as usual

Once you’ve achieved the look you’d like, skip adding a caption or other info and simply tap Share

The post will fail, simply click the X next to the Failed notification

The photo will now be saved to your camera roll

Turn off airplane mode and use the photo however you like

17. APPLY MORE THAN ONE FILTER TO YOUR PHOTO

When it comes to Instagram editing, customization is the name of the game. Sometimes that means combining filters to get the look you want.

How:

Edit your photo as usual using one filter

Follow the instructions in hack No. 16 to save a photo without sharing it

Open the saved image from your camera roll

Make additional edits, including adding a second filter

Repeat that process to add as many filters as you like

Tag, caption, and share as usual

18. MAKE YOUR CAPTIONS MORE READABLE WITH LINE BREAKS

If your Instagram captions look more like novels than, well, captions, this trick for breaking them up might be for you.

How:

Edit your photo and proceed to the caption screen

Write your caption

To access the Return key, tap the 123 key on your device’s keyboard

Use Return to add breaks to your caption

Note: The breaks will start a new line, but not create the white space that you would see between two paragraphs. If you want a paragraph break, writing out your caption in a note app and copying it into Instagram will do the trick. To break up lines further, consider using punctuation, such as bullet points or dashes, to hold the place of an ‘empty’ line.

19. REGRAM POSTS IN A FEW CLICKS

Anyone who’s regrammed a post from Instagram knows that it involves taking a screenshot, cropping the image, and a number of other tedious steps … or does it?

With this hack using Hootsuite, you can regram with the greatest of ease.

How:

Open Hootsuite and find the image you’d like to share in an Instagram stream

Click the square arrow icon to to share the post

The compose box will open and automatically attach the photo with the original caption as well as append a photo credit (displayed as 📷: @username)

Whether you’ve got a global audience or a busy schedule, it can be tough to remember to share that Instagram post when you know your audience will see it. No more. Use Hootsuite to schedule your Instagram posts and you can ensure they’ll always go up at the best time.

21. USE INDIVIDUALS PHOTOS ON YOUR INSTAGRAM PROFILE TO MAKE A LARGER ONE

It’s common knowledge that Instagram displays posts on your profile in a grid format. What not a lot of people think of is putting that layout to work for them.

Whether it’s a #triplegram — a series of three related photos posted to Instagram consecutively — or a single photo broken into nine to take over the entire visible space on your profile, this hack can help you get more from the grid.

From the home screen, tap the camera icon at the top left of the screen OR swipe right to open the camera OR open Instagram Direct by tapping the paper airplane icon at the top right of the screen, then tapping the camera icon in the top left

Shoot a photo, video, or Boomerang

Edit it as desired

Tap the arrow in a circle icon at the bottom right of the screen

Choose your recipient OR tap New Group to send your message to several people in a single group chat

Instagram videos play without sound by default, so only use it if it’s going to add to the story. No one wants to unmute video they’re watching, only to find that themselves stuck with random, uninteresting background noise. Keep from annoying your followers by simply sharing videos without sound.

How:

Tap the + at the bottom of the screen to select the video you’d like to upload

Tap Next

Tap the volume control icon at the top of the screen to mute the video’s sound

Note: This can also be done in Instagram Stories. After recording a video, simply tap the volume control icon at the top of the screen to mute.

26. SAVE DRAFTS FOR LATER

You’ve snapped the perfect shot and edited it to perfection, but the perfect caption eludes you. At times like these, it’s handy to know that Instagram has added the ability for users to save posts as drafts. Once you’ve saved a post, it retains all of your edits (including whatever attempt you’ve made at a caption), until you’re ready to revisit it.

How:

Tap the + at the bottom of the screen to shoot or upload a photo or video

Edit the post as you like, adding filters, captions, tags, or a location

Hit the < icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to go back to the editing screen

Hit the < icon again

A pop-up menu will appear, select Save Draft

When you’re ready to continue with your edits and share your post, tap the + icon, then select Library

Note: To delete a post from your saved posts, select Manage to go to Drafts, then tap Edit. Select the posts you’d like to get rid of and tap Discard Posts at the bottom of the screen, then tap again to confirm.

Instagram Hacks for Hashtags

27. EASILY RESEARCH RELEVANT HASHTAGS FOR YOUR POSTS

Some hashtags are obvious, while others require a little digging to find. Luckily, Instagram has a feature that can provide relevant suggestions for your posts.

How:

Tap the magnifying glass icon to visit the Discover tab

Type in a keyword to search hashtags

Choose a hashtag from the list

This will take you to a page of posts bearing that hashtag

Above the MOST RECENT and TOP POSTS portions of the page, there appears a small bar labeled Related — next to this, Instagram will display a list of relevant hashtags that you can swipe through for inspiration (and further research)

28. SAVE HASHTAGS FOR FUTURE USE

We all know the feeling. You’re trying to share an Instagram post quickly. Maybe you’re in the moment. Maybe you’re short on time. Whatever the reason, you’re trying to dash off a caption and add your hashtags with lightning speed. The only problem? You can’t seem to remember which ones you usually add …

That’s when it pays to start stockpiling your hashtags to save yourself time.

How:

Create a new note in the notes app on your mobile device

Add all of your favorite, most used captions to a running list

Whenever you’re sharing a post, navigate from Instagram to the notes app, copy your text, then paste it in your caption

Boom! #Success is yours

29. HIDE HASHTAGS

Hashtags are a key feature of Instagram, fostering community and engagement. The only problem? A list of hashtags on every post can look a little… well, cluttered. And maybe a little needy. The good news is you can hide your hashtags to keep the focus on the content.

How to do it — method No. 1:

One easy way to hide your hashtags is to simply leave them out of your caption altogether and put them in a comment below your post

Once you’ve got another comment, your hashtags will be safely hidden in the comments section

How to do it — method No. 2:

Another method is to separate your hashtags from the rest of your caption by burying them beneath an avalanche of line breaks

Simply tap the 123 key when composing a caption

Select Return

Enter a piece of punctuation (whether a period, bullet, or dash), then hit Return again

Repeat steps 2 to 4 at least five times

Instagram hides captions after three lines, so your hashtags won’t be viewable unless your followers tap the more option on your post

Instagram Stories Hacks

30. RECORD VIDEO HANDS-FREE

Some days holding down the button to continue recording video is an inconvenience you just don’t need. That’s why Instagram introduced hands-free video recording, which makes it even easier to do things like switch between your front and rear-facing cameras while recording (just tap the circular arrow icon).

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Swipe through the options at the bottom of the screen — Normal, Boomerang, Hands-Free — to get to the hands-free recording option

Tap the record button at the bottom of the screen to begin recording

To stop recording, either let the maximum video recording time run out or tap the circle again

You probably know that you can add text to your photo or video in Instagram Stories. What you may not realize is that you can keep adding text, text, and more text — as much as you want — to each post in your Story.

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Snap an image or record a video

Tap the screen to add text OR tap the Aa icon in the upper right-hand corner

Write your desired text

Tap Done

Repeat as many times as needed to add as much text you want on your Story

32. CHOOSE FROM A RAINBOW OF PEN OR TEXT COLORS

Create Stories that reflect your full range of creativity by moving beyond the default hue options.

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Snap an image or record a video

Tap the pen icon or the Aa icon in the top right corner of the screen

This will open up either the brush or text tool, including several default color options at the bottom of the screen

Press and hold any color to open up the color slider

Select a hue from any point on the spectrum to enhance your post

Draw and write to your heart’s content, then share as usual

33. CHANGE THE COLOR OF INDIVIDUAL LETTERS OR WORDS IN YOUR TEXT

Unlock your creative side with this colorful hack.

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Snap an image or record a video

Tap the screen to add text OR tap the Aa icon in the upper right-hand corner

Write your text as usual

Press and hold on a word or individual letter to select and highlight

Choose your desired color (either from the default or the full-spectrum color picker)

Continue editing and share as usual

34. STICKERS, STICKERS & MORE STICKERS (UNLOCK HIDDEN ONES TOO!)

With stickers, you can easily share details about your Story such as the weather, current time, or your location. When people watch your Story, they’ll be able to tap on the location sticker to view other posts from that location.

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Snap an image or record a video

Tap the smiley face sticker icon in the upper right-hand corner

Choose your desired sticker

If desired, tap the sticker to cycle through multiple options (for example, with the temperature sticker you can choose between celsius and fahrenheit)

You’ve taken the perfect photo for you Story — a once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated moment. The only problem? You didn’t take it in Stories. Never fear! So long as it was shot in the last 24 hours, you can share it from your mobile device’s camera roll.

How:

Swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access your camera roll

Choose your desired photo or video

Edit and share your Story as usual

36. UPLOAD A PHOTO OLDER THAN 24 HOURS TO STORIES

The unthinkable has happened — you had the perfect shot for your Story, but you forgot to share. Luckily, there’s a workaround for that.

How:

Open the image you’d like to share in your phone’s camera roll

Take a screenshot

The screenshot will be saved as a ‘new’ image in your camera roll, so simply follow the above directions for uploading content from camera roll to share it on your Story

Note: This can also be achieved by opening the image in an editing app and resaving it to camera roll (actual edits optional). The idea is to trick your phone into thinking the image is new.

37. SHARE LIVE PHOTOS AS BOOMERANGS

It’s fairly widely known that you can share Boomerangs — those delightful GIF-like video loops — in Stories. But did you know that you can also create Boomerangs out of Live Photos? Welcome to the future.

How:

Take a Live Photo using your iOS device

Open Instagram and swipe right from your home screen to go to the Instagram Stories camera

Swipe up to access your camera roll

Select your Live Photo

Press firmly on the screen to activate the 3D Touch feature

A loading wheel and the word Boomerang will appear and then your Live Photo will begin looping as a Boomerang

Share your Instagram Story

Note: As with any content posted to Stories from your camera roll, this feature is only available for photos taken in the past 24 hours.

38. MENTION OTHER ACCOUNTS IN YOUR STORY

Unlike Snapchat, with Instagram Stories you can actually tag other accounts in your Story. Mentioned accounts will appear in your Story with an underline. Anyone watching your Story will be able to tap the link to go to their profile. It’s a great way to give a shout-out to another business or showcase an influencer in a takeover.

How:

Swipe right to open the Instagram Stories camera

Take a photo or video

Tap anywhere on the screen OR the Aa icon in the upper right-hand corner to add text

Type the @ symbol immediately followed by the username of the account you’d like to mention

Select the correct account from the menu

You can mention up to 10 accounts in each photo or video you share to your Story

When you mention someone, they’ll get a notification letting them know they’ve been tagged, as well as a direct message from you that includes a preview of your Story

Whether you want to share your masterpiece as a post on your profile or simply preserve it for posterity, saving it is key.

How:

Open your Story

Swipe up on the screen

Tap the arrow in a circle icon in the top right corner of the screen

Note: You can also save individual posts from your Story as you upload them by tapping the downward arrow icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. If you’ve already shared it, go to the photo or video you’d like to save in your Story, tap the three dot icon in the bottom right corner, and tap Save Photo.

40. SHARE YOUR STORY TO YOUR PROFILE

If your Story’s 🔥 and you want everyone to see it — regardless of whether they’ve logged on while it’s live — then you may want to consider sharing it to your main Instagram profile so that it appears in your feed.

How:

Open your Story

Tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner of the photo or video you’d like to share

Tap Share as Post

Edit — add filters, tags, a caption, etc. — and post as you normally would

41. FIND OUT HOW YOUR STORY’S PERFORMING

Want to know how your Story’s doing? Check out this little-known feature to find out who’s watched it.

How:

Open your Story

Swipe up on the screen

Instagram will display the number as well as the names of people who have seen each photo or video in your Story

42. ZOOM IN & OUT ON VIDEOS WITH A SINGLE FINGER

Sometimes you want to add a little filmmaking flair to your Story.

How:

Swipe right to open the Instagram Stories camera

Hold down the capture button with one finger to begin recording video

Slide up or down with the same finger to zoom in or out

43. HIDE YOUR STORY FROM SPECIFIC PEOPLE

Maybe you’re planning a surprise and you don’t want the guest of honor seeing your plans. Maybe you’re trying to hide something from a frenemy. Whatever the reason, sometimes there’s someone who you just don’t want to see your Story.

How:

Tap the person icon to go to your profile

Tap the gear icon on iOS or the three dots on Android to access Options

Tap Story Settings below Account

Tap Hide My Story From

Select the people you’d like to hide your Story from

Tap Done

Note: You can also choose to hide your Story from people as you’re looking at who’s seen your Story. Just tap the three dot icon to the right of the person’s name and select Hide Story From [Username].

44. PAUSE, SKIP, & GO BACK WHEN WATCHING STORIES

You don’t have to watch Stories in a strict progression if you don’t want to.

How:

While watching a Story:

Tap on the left side of the screen OR swipe right to go back to the previous photo or video

Tap on the right side of the screen OR swipe left to skip ahead to the next part of the Story